153- "Let's kick Crocodile's ass."

"I forgive you and I will even help your kingdom, but it depends on what you will give me." Ethan said.

"You will be greatly rewarded if you take me back to the Alabasta Kingdom." Vivi said.

"Reward? Yeah right, I know Alabasta is in the middle of a civil war. You barely got enough money for yourselves much less to give us." Zora said coldly causing Vivi's head to drop.

"Since you cannot offer anything, I will help you on one condition." Ethan said getting Vivi to look up at him with hope-filled eyes.

"What is it?" Vivi asked with a voice filled with hope.

"Whatever it is I am sure I will achieve for you." she said causing Ethan to chuckle.

"I will protect you and if once I take you back to your kingdom..Alabasta becomes my territory." Ethan said causing Vivi's eyes to widen in shock along with the girls.

"What exactly do we have to give you in exchange for being under your protection?" she asked, causing Ethan to smile.

"Nothing really," Ethan said surprising her.

"For the time being, nothing, but in the future I may need to help your kingdom and another group of kingdoms to do some things for me." the girls didn't quite understand why Ethan wasn't asking for something else like some money every month or something like that as payment for his protection.

Vivi didn't ask what Ethan was planning in the future but asked something else, "Since our kingdom will be part of your territory, does that mean we have to raise your pirate flag?"

"It's up to you. If you think your kingdom can withstand pressure from the Marines, do it. If you feel it's going to get you in trouble, don't." Ethan's answer was simple and made Vivi feel a little at ease.

"Do you mind telling us just why a princess like yourself is working in Baroque Works?" Clara asked while staring at Vivi. Vivi' face took on a sad look as she looked down to the ground before she spoke.

"As you know Alabasta is in the middle of a civil war, one day I learned of a secret organization called Baroque Works. I found out our people were being manipulated by this organization but that was the only information I could gather about this organization."

"I didn't know what to do so I went to Igaram for help and asked him to help me infiltrate Baroque Works so I can see who was pulling their strings from behind the scenes and what exactly they were up to." she said surprising the girls.

"Well you got a lot of guts considering you are a princess." Nami said.

"So, did you manage to find out what their plan was?" Desire asked Vivi causing everyone to look at her.

"Their plan is to create an ideal nation." Vivi said surprising the girls.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Lucy tilted her head in confusion.

"That's just a cover story the boss is using to cover their tracks." Vivi said as she clenched her fist.

"Their true goal is to take over the Alabasta Kingdom," she said causing Zora to nod her head because that made more sense rather than some ideal nation.

"I have to get back home so I can warn everybody and stop all of the fighting because if I don't..." Vivi said before she started to cry.

"Don't worry, Vivi." Ethan said getting her attention.

"I will help you save your kingdom." Ethan's confident looks made Vivi calm down and I felt somewhat safe just because of his voice and his confident look.

"By the way, did you ever find out the boss's identity?" Kaya asked causing her to panic.

"What?...The boss's identity?..you shouldn't ask that!" Vivi screamed frantically.

"But you know don't you?" Sanju asked as she stared at her.

"Ask me anything but that!" she screamed as she waves her hands frantically in the air.

"If I tell you your lives will be put in danger too." she said trying to make the girls understand the danger while Lucy found it all amusing.

"Yeah, I'll pass." Nami said in a scared voice.

"This guy is trying to take over an entire country after all. I wouldn't want someone like that chasing after me." Nami said while sweating slightly.

"Nami, we're going to help Vivi save her kingdom and we need to figure out the mastermind behind all this. Also, it seems you don't trust my strength with your words." Ethan frowned when they saw Nami's cowardly nature that he really wanted to change this.

"I didn't mean it. I trust your strength but we just entered the Grand Line and I'm a little worried." Nami lowered her head while sighing.

"No, you don't." Vivi said in a serious tone.

"I don't care how strong you people are you don't stand a chance against one of the Shichibukai, against Crocodile." she said causing everyone to stare at her and blinked a few time before she and Nami screamed out.

"AHHH!" they screamed out.

"You know for a princess you're not very bright." Hailey chuckled out.

Then all of a sudden Ethan sensed someone behind them and spun around quickly startling everyone.

When everyone turned around they saw a vulture and an otter standing on the roof staring down at them.before the otter hopped onto the vulture and they flew off. It was truly an odd sight to behold in Lucy's opinion.

Nami immediately began to panic and tried to leave claiming that they didn't know what she looks like, until the Otter showed up again and help up several well-drawn pictures of all of them, causing Nami to sulk in the corner while Vivi apologizes to her.

Nojiko wanted to shoot them but she heard Ethan's voice in her mind telling you not to.

"Well then, it looks like us will be sitting at the very top of Baroque Works hitlist." Desire said causing Ethan to chuckle.

"We're all going to die." Nami cried and rocked herself back and forth as she hugged her knees.

"Nami calm down. I can defeat him." Ethan tried to calm Nami, but she looked at him seriously.

"He's the Shichibukai as Mihawk. Do you remember what happened to you the last time you fought him? You almost died." After she said that, tears almost came out of her eyes.

"I'm the only one who saw what your injuries looked like after your fight with Mihawk and I don't want to see you in the same condition." Sanju sighed.

"You lost your arm and injuries were all over your body and the last attack pierced your body, it's a miracle that you are alive after that fight." All the girls looked at Ethan worried, Ethan and Sanju did not talk about what happened in the battle between him and Mihawk, all they know is that he lost his arm and when they met him his injuries were already healed.

"So what do you want to do? Do you want to keep running when confronted with a strong person, are you going to run for the rest of your life because of the fear that I might get hurt?" Ethan spoke seriously, "I'm much stronger than I was at the time, so stop worrying."

"I won't run and I will definitely defeat the crocodile."

Nami then looks at Lucy in the hope that she will object to Ethan's decision, since Lucy is also a captain who has the right to do so and if more girls want to run away they can change Ethan's decision.

Lucy smiled at Nami, "I agree with Ethan. Let's kick Crocodile's ass."

"I agree with what Ethan said, we shouldn't keep running, and what good is all the exercise we've been doing if we don't fight?" Zora stood by Ethan and she supported his decision.

One by one, the girls started standing next to Ethan and eventually Nami gave up trying to convince them.